Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet (1652 - 7 May 1724) was a supplier of wines to the royal household, Sheriff of London, and MP for Chippenham, Wiltshire, from 1690 to 1692. He was prosecuted for fraud and bribery, acquitted, and created a baronet in 1698.
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Firebrace was the second son of Sir Henry Firebrace, a courtier to both Charles I and Charles II, and Elizabeth Dowell; he was born in 1652.[1]
Firebrace became a vintner and supplier of wines to the royal household.[2] He was Sheriff of London in 1687, and knighted; he was also appointed Colonel of the Orange Regiment of the London militia.[1] He was admitted into the Worshipful Company of Vintners the following year and became an Alderman for Billingsgate.[3][4]
He was elected MP for Chippenham as a Tory on 9 December 1690, but the election was declared void almost a year later, on 1 December 1691, and was re-run on 14 December. He again won but an election petition unseated him in favour of Thomas Tollemache on 22 January 1692.[5] In 1694 he purchased West Lodge, Enfield Chase, where he resided until 1716.[6]
Firebrace also became a prominent figure in the East India Company[7] and was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Parliament for bribery and fraud in relation to its activities.[8][9] In April 1695 the House of Lords ordered that he be kept in "close confinement", having no contact with other prisoners.[10] He was perhaps more of a go-between than a principal,[11] and although criticised for his entrepreneurialism, he was eventually acquitted of all charges.[12]
He was appointed 1st Baronet Firebrace in 1698,[13] was bankrupted in 1701 and again imprisoned, for stabbing a creditor.[2]
He married Elizabeth Hough on 7 September 1671, at St Margaret's, Westminster.[1]
They produced five children, two of whom, Basil and Thomas, died in infancy.[6] Of the survivors, Hester (c. 1675- c.1725) married Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh, Charles (1680 - 1727) later inherited the baronetcy[13] and their final child, George, was born in 1681.[6]
Firebrace died on 7 May 1724;[2] W. H. Auden was among his descendants.[14]
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard Kent Alexander Popham |
Member of Parliament for Chippenham 1690–1692 With: Alexander Popham |
Succeeded by Thomas Tollemache Alexander Popham |
| Baronetage of England | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of London) 1698 – 1724 |
Succeeded by Charles |